Dad, Mom, and Eddie the Visiting Nurse

 

Dad and Mom with Nathan at his Holiday Concert

When I learned I was facing a left ankle reconstruction with no weight bearing for weeks, I started planning where and how to recover. While a master bedroom is on the main floor of my house, there are eight steps going up the front and back of the home and even more between the basement and kitchen door.

Since my parents have a one step entry into their home, it made sense to head there post surgery. Plus, Mom's a great care giver and cook, and home more than not. What I didn't expect was for Dad to give up his side of their Sleep Number bed for almost two weeks. No kidding, two whole weeks.

When I recovered at their home three years ago post right ankle ligament reattachment, I crashed on a comfy sofa in their sun room. Loved the view. Pressed up against the windows, I had a tree house perch overlooking their large backyard, complete with a creek that runs wild in the rain. But since back surgery followed five weeks later, I was a cautious about choosing the sofa with a view again. When a hospital bed potential fell through this go-round, Dad offered to move to their upstairs guest room while Mom helped me get through those first few days and weeks in the only bed on their main floor.

Thanks, Dad. You deserve a public, blog thanks.

Before I left the hospital, a physical therapist told us she'd ordered Visiting Nurse. Having never experienced home care, I was surprised and a little humbled by the order. Eddie came to the house several times, though, and helped immensely. I went from feeling bedridden to doing leg lifts and scooting up and down a tall flight of stairs in the seated position almost once a day.

A cold clobbered me this week so exercise on top of everything else left me exhausted. Lightening the routine helped. But I remain grateful to Kaiser Permanente for approving his visits. I'm much stronger and will maintain far more muscle strength continuing exercise while the ankle heals.

So Dad gave me a bed. Mom served good food. And Eddie got me moving.

And Lily... well, Lily, made me laugh and cry. She stared longingly at my food, jumped on my tender ankle once, curled on top of me for several long naps, knocked over the plastic cylinder filled with my favorite cereal and rolled it under the bed. In her frenzy to find every last morsel of gluten free Peanut Butter Panda Puffs that scattered under the bed, she turned on an alarm stored beneath where I slept. It went off very early the next morning. Thankfully, mom hadn't left for her dental appointment and could get on all fours to turn it off. Crazy dog.

Gal. 5:15 state, "You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge your sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love."

I'm back home. Made my own coffee and toasted my own gluten free waffles this morning. And as I adjust to phase two in this healing process, "Susan back on her own", I'm grateful for parents and others who've served me in love the last two weeks.

Check out Music by Susan Schreer Davis on Itunes!